Worksite accidents aren't the only incidents that cause workers to suffer pain or injury. Prolonged activity, repetitive movements, general fatigue, and poor body mechanics all take their tolls on the body. Prolonged activity is anything that lasts longer than 20 minutes and can be as simple as sitting in a chair. Repetitive movements include everything from typing to scanning merchandise to assembly-line work. Fatigue can be the result of working all day or simply not getting enough rest prior to starting work. Proper body mechanics are incredibly important for several reasons: A) when someone is lifting, pushing, or pulling, poor body mechanics can lead to injury, B) poor body mechanics like slouching or tilting the head create pain and dysfunction over time, C) when the body is used to poor body mechanics, it will prefer the position that is unnatural, thereby causing the problem to worsen, and D) proper body mechanics affects and is affected by prolonged activity, repetitive movements, and fatigue.
A person who doesn't suffer from a repetitive stress injury or something that can be diagnosed can still develop enough chronic pain or discomfort and become less productive at work. Even more frustrating is when this pain causes problems outside of work and become such a tangled mess of issues that physicians can't isolate the problem.
Probably the simplest human need that is the most taken for granted is sleep. Just because a person can function on very little sleep doesn't mean he doesn't need it. Sleep is how the body recovers from the day. Rest is incredibly important to health. Rest is especially vital for a person who is active. Muscles need to recover from activity; organs need time to rejuvenate and repair. Lack of sleep is hard on the body. When a person is in pain, sleeping is more difficult. It takes longer to fall asleep, and the person may not experience a deep enough sleep to recuperate. Therefore, he is more fatigued the next day at work, causing more stress on the body and worse body mechanics. This results in having even more difficulties sleeping. The cycle is fierce, and once it's in motion, it can be tough to stop.
Both pain and difficulty sleeping can lead to depression. As far as work goes, depression takes a large toll on motivation, desire to succeed, ability to perform routine functions, and overall attitude and morale. Additionally, depression exacerbates pain and causes sleep disturbances. As work performance decreases, other risks for depression increase (lack of pride in work, lower pay, getting fired, etc.) This nasty cycle can be especially difficult to recognize. Someone who is suffering from depression as a result of work-related pain may only get treated for the depression rather than the source of the problem: chronic pain. Even if treating depression improves the condition, without addressing the pain that caused so many problems, the patient will have to treat depression indefinitely.
Society is becoming wiser to the holistic understanding of action and reaction. We are better anticipating how an action will affect more parts of the whole. Employers know that if their workers are susceptible to debilitating injury, it will negatively affect the whole of the company. Similarly, if every-day work tasks aren't considered when a company implements ergonomics or an employee develops good working and living habits, the employee and company can be impacted just as negatively as with an onsite injury. With awareness of the work setting and conscious monitoring of how the body is used, these pain-causing activities can be fixed before they lead to worse problems.
Carol Olin is Vice President of Americarts USA, a manufacturer of US-made motorized platform carts used for material transporting in hospitals, hotels and industrial cart applications. Americart USA features high quality carts price to compete with imported products. Carol has been in the material transport equipment industry for over 11 years.
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